~*.*Disciples of the Keyblade*.*~
Title: Meddlers
Rating: T to be safe.
Warnings: Some violence, blood
Characters: Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Master Eraqus, Sebastian, King Triton, Ariel
Summary: Under the sea, life is apparently better. When outsiders don't interfere anyway. Pre-BBS.
Special Notes: Oh my God I fail. So bad. This chapter is dedicated to the extremely patient BoneNomad, thank you very much for the Atlantica idea and the advice.
~***~
Ventus blinked, dumbfounded. All around him was the endless swirl of the sea. The water gave everything a strange appearance, as if it was moving. Technically, he guessed, it was. Didn't make it any easier to see. His skin could feel the pressure of the huge amount of liquid that had to be crushing against his thin frame. There was no way he could be so far underwater and not be destroyed by the water's force.
And yet, here he was. Obviously breathing, against all odds.
He craned his head upward, and he felt…weird. Something about the sea…it seemed so…familiar. But why? Some memory stirred in the back of his head, the memories he could never access, that had been lost. It was right there! The answer. Somewhere between his heart and the tip of his tongue…
Fwoosh!
Ven started, whirling around in a trail of gleaming silver bubbles. A huge gray clam had just pried itself open and had released a small explosion of compressed air. The glittering spheres sailed towards the sky—the ocean's top?—which was only a gleaming veil of gold, thanks to the sun. The seafloor was dappled with strange moving patterns that never stayed still, crisscrossing everything like a child's coloring book. With all of the color out of the lines.
Seaweed, a dozen different kinds, waved in the currents and bright fish darted here and there. An eel coiled back into its dark hole slowly, yellow eyes staring balefully at him. Ven was about to move forward, when he noticed something very important.
He had no legs. He had a tail, really, like a mermaid. He swished the strange new appendage that couldn't possibly belong to him, frowning slightly. The skin was elastic and gray, but powerful muscles were bunched and clustered together underneath the surface. Ven twisted his head and saw the triangular shape of a dorsal fin on the back of his tail, farther up, nearer to where his skin resumed and the rubber ended.
Well. Apparently now he was half dolphin. That was fantastic. He liked dolphins, so he guessed it was acceptable. What had Eraqus said to him again? He closed his eyes, thinking.
Master Eraqus turned to his apprentices, a brown box in his hand. "Now," he began firmly, flicking his gaze from Terra, to Aqua, to Ventus. "This is a very special artifact. I borrowed it from a powerful sorcerer for your next lesson. It will take you to a world and back."
"But Master, don't our Riders do that?" Terra objected. He had his arms crossed, staring at the simple wooden cube in Eraqus's palms.
"Yes, Terra, but the next world is underwater. Even though it would be possible to take you there in your Riders, and possible to use transformation spells and the like, it is more trouble than it would be worth. No, the next world is an example of a world's natural magic, and how it can change you."
"What do you want us to do when we get there?" Aqua asked.
Eraqus looked at her. "In reality? I want you to get used to the form you will assume when you arrive. It's important for a Keyblade Master to quickly adapt to any situation, even though I have another lesson on that matter. Mainly, I think this will be a good experience for you. Terra." He redirected his level gaze towards the oldest apprentice.
"Yes, Master?"
Opening the lid, their mentor revealed a glowing, five pronged shape. It was a small star the size of Ven's fist, and it was the same color as the sun when it began to set. Bloody red and cat's fur orange. Eraqus carefully placed the object into Terra's hand.
Terra's face seemed to become crimson in its radiance, and his eyes became an eerie shade of dark yellow. He grimaced. "What's this?"
"Take good care of it, Terra. I had to call in an old favor to use it, and it is not easy to get one of these."
"But what is it?" Ven couldn't keep quiet any longer. He leaned forward, longing to touch it, even if it was just to see why Terra looked so uncomfortable.
"Let's just say it's a special star. Terra, and in case anything happens, Aqua, I'm going to tell you how to use it."
"What if something happens to Aqua? I should know too." Ventus said.
Eraqus sighed. "The world isn't really that dangerous, usually. But very well. It's extremely simple." He stated this in a way that implied, "You can't possible mess this up." But he never really said that. "Envision the Land of Departure to return here. To leave…think of the ocean."
"I've never seen it." Aqua crossed her arms and rocked slightly on her heels. "I've read about it and saw pictures but…"
"It's okay; I know what it looks like." Terra shrugged.
"Very well. That's all." Eraqus smiled. "Try not to get into trouble, will you?"
Ven rubbed at his hair, glad for how thick it was. It didn't fall down into his face, which would have been a real hindering thing in battle. The sea was never quiet, it hissed and gurgled and roared in that (un)familiar way to the young teen, always in his ears. He felt curiously along his neck, expecting to run across gills or something, but there was nothing there.
"So apparently this world's magic has a thing against shirts? I had my favorite shirt on!" Terra's voice reached his ears clearly, despite the noise the water was creating.
Turning around, Ven smiled as he saw the oldest apprentice.
Terra was right in the fact that he didn't have a shirt—neither did he, now that he thought about it—which showed off how well muscled he was compared to any of the other apprentices. Of course, Ven was more wiry and catlike than the brute bear strength that the oldest protégé favored. His tail was a dark, deep, black, and the jagged dorsal fin clearly said to anyone that might have had a doubt before, part shark, right here! His brown hair wasn't as thick as Ven's, and because of this, it floated a little more freely around his face. His eyes sought Ven's out and he shrugged.
"Hey, Terra! Where's Aqua?" Ven swam out to him, which was easier than he had thought, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness that possessed his body. He was pleased to see he hadn't lost any of his speed, which was the only advantage he had over Aqua's magic and Terra's power.
"I don't know. Where is she? Aqua!" Terra cupped his hands to his mouth, raising his voice. The sea caught the sound and swirled it around rapidly, and the small encircled grotto they were in seemed to be filled with the girl's name.
"Here. You don't have to yell."
Ven looked up and laughed, realizing Aqua had been floating just above their heads, but she had her back to them, arms crossed. What was wrong with her? Was she okay? He went up to her level, but she twisted away from him again.
Hurt, and letting that same pain creep into his voice since he knew she couldn't resist his devilishly handsome charm—or so he joked—Ven asked, "Hey, what did I do?"
She glanced at him guiltily and then looked away. "Nothing. I'm fine."
Terra laughed and shot up like a torpedo, and Ven had to kick his tail to keep still as the currents buffeted him. "She's blushing, look! Her face is all red."
"No, I'm not. Let's go." Aqua turned around but Ven grabbed her shoulder. She still had her shirt on, though it had changed somewhat. The long sleeves flowed behind her as if caught in an invisible breeze.
He peeked at her expression. "What are ya blushing for?"
"You're naïve. It's obvious." Terra laughed, clutching his chest and hunching over like it was the funniest thing in the world. "We're shirtless, if you haven't noticed."
"Yeah, but what—oh. It's not like she hasn't seen us like this before." Ven blinked, confused. There were plenty of lakes on the Land of Departure, and then he remembered that despite her name, Aqua wasn't heavily into swimming. She would be nearby under a tree reading, usually, whilst he and Terra were in the water.
Aqua glared at Terra. "Are you done acting childish? Let's go." Without waiting for them, she put on a burst of speed and sailed away through the sea, turning a corner.
"She's so weird sometimes." Terra followed her though, still snickering, and Ven took one last look around at the sunlit grotto and its colorful inhabitants before following.
They played something sort of like tag, dipping and diving and flashing around corners and bends and arches. Ven was impossible to catch, always darting out of the way at the last second. Terra had actually bashed his head on a stone during one attempt to nab the golden haired apprentice, and Aqua had to heal the bloody scrape.
"You deserved that," she had remarked playfully. Terra had growled and tackled her.
Ven let them fight like the immature teens they were—personally, he fancied himself a rather even minded boy, thank you very much—instead, he kicked off for the surface world. He wondered where they were, exactly. Under the sea, everything was beautiful and clean and full of vibrant life. What kind of world existed up there? Or was the whole entire planet nothing but blue, blue marine?
He burst through the waves, and in that instant he realized he had built up far too much speed. In a matter very similar to a dolphin, he ended up leaping into the air before crashing back down with a huge splash.
"Ouch!"
"Ow!"
Aqua had followed him up, and Ven hadn't noticed her. They collided once he fell back into the water, and tumbled through the ocean until they regained their balance. His entire world was too busy spinning to properly discern anything. Leave a message and he'd get back to reality as soon as he could, thanks.
Righting herself, Aqua shook him gently. "You okay?"
"Wazzat?" Ven's eyes were rolling, seeing only dark blue, light blue, and black. Aqua's hand on his shoulder was the lone thing that wasn't flipping wildly. Someone needed to fix the horizon so he could get his head out of the clouds. After a few moments, everything steadied, and he got a good look as to where they had ended up.
They had tumbled quite a bit—I must have done one spectacular jump to get so far down!—and the sun was farther away than it had been. They were situated between two large stones also, which might have been the cause of the darkness. Aqua squeezed his shoulder again before letting go and drifting to the side a little.
"Well. We should get out of here, back to Terra," she murmured.
"How…how'd you get the world to stop spinning so fast?"
She stared at him like he was crazy for a moment before laughing. "Oh. Some people can take being dizzy better, Ven."
"You followed me, though? I was going pretty fast."
"Yeah, I noticed." Aqua smiled. "I realized you had left, so I pushed Terra away and tried to catch up. I guess I was at my top speed when you suddenly fell down on me."
"Right. Sorry."
She shrugged indifferently.
"Hey, you two! I know you're back there. Hiding from me. Real mature, guys." Terra sounded disgruntled, and his voice reached their ears from the other side of the rocks.
"We're coming out!" Ven called. The two large dark stones formed a sort of lopsided bowl shape, and the two apprentices had to build up some speed before they could jump back out of it.
Terra was waiting on the other side, arms crossed. Ven had been right, and once they had exited the dark enclave, everything was brighter again. "What were you two doing back there?" asked the brown haired disciple. There was something in his voice that made Aqua bristle.
"Oh, grow up." She huffed, smiling at Terra to take the sting out of her words. "Let's go find some civilization. I'm sure there's some here, somewhere."
Turns out, they didn't need to. Ven felt something latch onto his tail, and he bolted, taking off through the water, too startled to think. "Ouch! Hey, what's pinching me?" He wagged his fin hard, spying a red crab clinging by its claws to his tail-tip.
"Hey, mon! Quit it, stop it, whoa!"
Terra pulled off the red crustacean and held it between two fingers. "Oh, great. Talking crabs."
"Stop it, put me down!"
"Put him down, Terra." Aqua sighed and rolled her eyes. He shrugged and did so.
"Thank you. Now, what do ya think you're doin'? You know the King said no one is allowed this close to da human shores! Can't ya see da sand slopin' up?" The crab crossed his arms and glared at Terra balefully, his tiny face showing a huge array of emotions. Anger and indignation was the most present.
"King? There's a King here?" Aqua looked thoughtful.
"Where there's a King, there are people!" Terra added.
The crab spluttered in surprise. "King? Of course there's a King! You must be livin' wit' your head under a rock, mon! King Triton rules Atlantica and all things under the sea! How can ya not be knowin' this?"
"We're…not from around here. Way out of this ocean." Ven hastily said, and his friends agreed with straight faces. Lying shouldn't be this easy, the boy reflected.
"You've gotta be far, far out of this ocean to not know the King…" The crab muttered. "Very well, very well! Dis way, then, I be takin' you to Atlantis then, that's what I'm gonna do!"
"Cool. What's your name?" Ven inquired casually.
"Sebastian, at your service! I advise da King, and I direct da musical entertainment."
"Musical entertainment?" Terra muttered incredulously to himself.
"My name's Ven, and this is Aqua and Terra."
"You all look a little young," Sebastian observed, motioning for them to follow as he swam out away from the shore, "To be out here all alone."
"We're big kids," Terra snorted with a slight edge of mocking sarcasm.
"Big enough to take on da sharks and da other creatures? Some nasty fish be down here, mon."
"It's no problem," Aqua shrugged.
"Alright, alright, I'm not gonna intrude any more. It's your business where you come from, not mine. Let me tell you about Atlantica then, while you're here to visit."
So Sebastian launched into his whole spiel about the undersea life, saying he had been hanging near the rocks to catch the "daring merfolk" near the shore where they weren't supposed to be. He explained about how the hierarchy system worked, the city, how the economy operated, etc, etc.
Ven noticed Aqua looked entirely entranced, her short blue-silver hair flowing loosely around her, eyes trained on Sebastian. The crab didn't seem to notice that the two boys were hanging back now, not really listening.
"Hey, what's that over there?" Terra tapped Ven's shoulder and motioned to their right. Across the shimmering ocean, with its constantly shifting ceiling, two dark shapes were struggling wildly, with another odd shadow over their heads.
Ven's quick eyes took in everything. A boat, a man, and some kind of shark.
Shark. Shark!
This would be the part where someone cued the Jaws theme, already in full swing. Ven pelted off, his Keyblade leaping into his hand, not once shifting his eyes from the monstrous black and white predator that was circling the man.
Apparently, the sailor had injured himself—maybe with the knife that was only lightly clutched in his hand—and blood had flowed from the wound. That had, in turn, attracted the shark. The mousy haired man was trying to hack past the net that was wound around his leg, catching him in its deadly embrace. Ironically enough, some fish were actually inside the ropy interior. The unfortunate guy even had his left arm caught.
"Ven! Get back here!" Terra shouted, but his voice was far behind the golden haired apprentice.
He got in-between the shark and the fisherman, swinging his Keyblade and bashing its snout in all in one swing. Its own blood flowed in ribbons from its snout, and it roared in agony, gnashing its teeth. Ven only just got his weapon up in time to block, fastening it vertically so it would have to bite past his Keyblade to attack. While it struggled, Ven took the knife from the man's hand—it felt weird in his grip, not a perfect extension of his arm, like his Keyblade—and sawed through the mess of brown vines. Once the panicked fisherman, entirely incoherent thanks to his terror, was safely back in his vessel, Ven turned back to the shark.
He summoned his Keyblade back from its jaws, but it wasn't really needed.
Terra attacked it from behind with such a blow that a good chunk of its pebbly hide was ribbed off in the process. It decided it had had enough, turning away and doggedly swimming as far from them as it could, following the currents, picking up speed until it was gone from sight.
Aqua had been only a little behind Terra, gasping for breath. She didn't look at Ven; she simply placed her hands on the side of the boat and began propelling it towards the shore.
"Why would you do that, mon?! That was a human! We don't meddle with human affairs!" Sebastian ranted, looking more shocked than angry.
"He was in trouble!" Ven objected. "And we're peacekeepers!"
Terra brought a hand to his face. "That just blew our cover."
"Cover? We don't need to have a cover!" Ven couldn't understand why everyone was giving him grief over saving a man's life.
"Two words. World. Order." Terra hissed into Ven's ear before turning back to Sebastian. "But he has a point."
Ven glowered, wishing he could just run and run and run like he could back home, letting the wind flow through his hair and celebrating the fact that no one could catch him. But he couldn't do that underwater. He was unexpectedly sick of Atlantica and all of its undersea "glory". "Can we go now?" He asked.
Terra looked at him, surprised. "Why? Don't you want to see Atlantis?"
A swirl of silver bubbles signaled Aqua's return. She gave Ven an unreadable look, but switched her eyes onto Terra instead. "What's the matter?"
"Ven wants to go home."
Aqua twirled one strand of hair around her finger. "We should see Atlantis first."
"We should? Or do you want to see it?" Ven sighed, annoyed. Okay, sure, he had broken the "no meddling" rule. But the man had been in trouble. They were peacekeepers, right? Then how did they keep the peace without interfering?
Aqua sighed and ruffled his hair, but he shied away from her touch. Ignoring her hurt expression, Ven suddenly said, "Let's go to Atlantis, Sebastian. Please."
"The King will be hearin' 'bout this," the crab threatened, but he didn't really sound mad. Conflicted, sure. Not mad. "Dis way, dis way."
Ven, usually in the front, followed behind Terra, trailing at the back of the group, lost in thought.
~***~
"Welcome to Atlantis, mon!"
Everything…was gorgeous. Colorful coral, humongous seashells, fantastic and intricate shapes and even more interesting people that spiraled and spun and dipped and flew at a million different angles in a chaotic harmony that Ven couldn't imagine any other way. Chariots pulled by seahorses, long creatures that resembled aquatic dragons that acted like tour buses, the massive emerald palace fringed with gold that dominated the colossal scene as its figurehead…
Ven forgot about his rebellious thoughts, letting his eyes take in the sight. He ducked quickly so a small cart, holding a lobster, could pass over his head. It was being towed by an angelfish, and it left a trail of delicate bubbles behind that popped after a few seconds. The currents of the water jumbled up a bit of the voices, but his ears seemed to take in all of the sounds and smooth them out before they even reached his mind.
"Whoa!" Ven and the others said a heartbeat too late, busy surveying the scene.
"Yes, yes, that's da reaction we usually be gettin' mon." Sebastian chuckled. "I'd love to take you, and show you around, but we need to take ya to the King! You've got to meet him."
"Are we in trouble?" Ven asked, his previous bad mood on the verge of returning.
The crab waved him off. "Probably not, mon. Triton, he be the merciful type. A warning is the worst you'd get."
"All right. Might as well." Terra put on his usual bored façade again, trying to hide his awe.
Aqua nodded and together they followed Sebastian towards the great palace, which curled and coiled like several great emerald eels winding together around one large spire. It was surrounded on all sides by tall walls, which Ven thought was rather pointless, since he could swim over them if he wanted.
Inside, they found several servants—not just the mermaids and the boys, but fishes too—bustling about doing whatever it was palace waiters had to attend to. Sebastian swam quickly, expertly taking them down a dozen different corridors.
As they went, Terra motioned for everyone to cluster near him. "After we meet Triton, we need to go. Eraqus will start to worry."
"Alright," Aqua agreed. Ven did the same.
Triton's throne room was in the center, with a high, high ceiling. It was lit with an odd stream of golden bubbles that seemed to act like fire, coming out from the sconces on the walls and in torrents from the floor. Ven saw the King sitting on his throne, not looking at them, but the girl in front of them.
The girl was young, very young. Two, three, maybe four? It was hard to tell. She had brilliant red hair that flowed from her head in rivulets, and bright blue eyes. She also had a green tail that seemed to have an almost feathered, translucent edge. She turned to see the newcomers, smiling brightly.
"Hi! Who are you?"
"Sebastian," rumbled the King, looking at the crab with the same stern expression that Eraqus often had. "Who do you bring with you? Ambassadors?"
"No, Your Majesty. This here be some newcomers. They accidentally broke a rule, and I t'ink you should be informed."
Triton had a long, gray beard flecked with color and a yellow crown on his head. He was surprisingly well muscled for how old he appeared, with a blue-green tail similar to the person that Ven assumed was his daughter, from the way he looked at her. In one hand, he held a golden trident. It gave off the same aura of power that Aqua had said the Sword in the Stone contained. The golden haired apprentice looked at his friend curiously, seeing her facial expression shift. She was indeed "feeling" its magic again.
"Rule? What rule? Which one?" Triton's eyes were thunderous as he stared at the newcomers, but still, he had a wise look to his gaze. "Explain yourselves. Who are you?"
"They—"
"I said them Sebastian." Triton sighed. The crab nodded and ducked his head.
Ven was about to speak, but Terra pushed him lightly to the side.
"I'm Terra, and she's Aqua, and he's Ven. We're from far away. We didn't know that you have a no 'meddling' rule. We're sorry. But Ven saved a human from a shark, that's all, and I doubt the man will recall anything from that incident. Even if he did, who would believe him?"
Triton shook his head. "You interfered with humans?"
"He was—"
"Ven. Shut up." Terra growled, grabbing the boy's shoulder just a little harder than necessary. Aqua shot him a look, and he loosened his grasp. Louder, he added, "I know, we won't do it again. We couldn't stand idle while someone was in danger. Human or not."
Triton was silent for so long, just leaning back into his throne with his eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose, that Ven wondered if he had fallen asleep. But, like Eraqus, that was only a ruse. After an eternity: "That…is a valid reason," he gruffly admitted. "But no more." He opened his eyes. "Do you hear me? No more meddling with human affairs! Sebastian, take Ariel and leave. I want to talk to these three alone."
"But Daddy," Ariel whined. "I want to talk to them too! They look so interesting, and—"
"No buts, Ariel!" Triton spoke over her protests, his eyes softening as his daughter huffed, annoyed, and departed unhappily with Sebastian. "Headstrong, stubborn daughter of mine," the King muttered affectionately.
Terra waited a few seconds, then: "We have somewhere we need to be. So unless you—"
"I'm not done. There's a reason I asked Sebastian to leave. There's something wrong here. You three couldn't tell your dorsal fin from your tail."
Aqua was just a bit too slow to hide her surprise, her hand going to her mouth before she swiftly dropped it.
"I thought so." Triton narrowed his eyes, not really suspiciously, but as if he was thinking through a hard puzzle. "Now, tell me the truth. You aren't from another ocean, are you?"
Terra hesitated.
The King nodded. "I see. Where are you really from? Don't fear, I won't be angry with you, no matter where you hail."
"We're…from a different world." Ven sighed.
"Tell me how."
"We're Keyblade apprentices." Terra looked as if he was admitting defeat about something.
Triton suddenly sat up and laughed. It was so sudden that Aqua and everyone else jumped slightly. "I see," the old King smiled, and it transformed his features so that he looked years younger. "I haven't had Keybearers here in years."
"W-What? You've had Keybearers—"
"Don't look so surprised. Did you think you were the only ones? I had almost forgotten. It's not hard to pick you out. The way you move, how you look around, if you had been under the sea your entire life, you'd seem more at home." Triton shook his head slowly. "But the golden rule still remains. For us to remain safe and undetected, we don't consort with humans."
"Are you going to kick us out?" Ven yelped.
"No." Triton looked insulted that it had even been brought up. "Of course not. But while you are here, as a mermaid or merman, you will not meddle with human affairs. Do you understand me?" His eyebrows drew together into a bushy "V", and the apprentices nodded swiftly. "Good. Then you are welcome in Atlantis, as long as you abide by our rules, for as long as you like. And your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Terra and the others bowed low from the waist.
Triton shrugged. "Now, how about you stay for dinner?"
~***~
Eraqus looked at his disciples with a somewhat amused expression. "It's rather late."
"We know, sorry. But the King invited us to dinner and—" Ven began, but their Master waved it off.
"No, it's all right. I wasn't exactly worried for you three. Together, I'm certain there's not a challenge you can't conquer."
Terra laughed. "You could have told us Atlantica was going to turn us into fish people."
"But then you'd expect it. And how would you adapt then?"
Aqua looked unsteady on her feet; they all did, after almost a day as "merfolk". "Master, King Triton told us Keybearers had been to Atlantica before. Always meddling."
Eraqus winked. "Oh, there were a few Keyblade Wielders that always had to put their nose in where it didn't belong. Drowning men, overturned boats, maybe a shark attack or two? I've been there. But no meddling, heavens no."
Everyone stared, speechless, as their Master turned and headed to his room, chuckling to himself all the while.
~***~
Right. Special thanks to UnVeRsEd for his awesome advice on how to write Sebastian's accent. It would be far, far worse than it already is if it wasn't for him.
As for the pairing drama in the last chapter, IGNORE that if you want. I wasn't really in my right mind, being in a worse state than I am now, and wrote some really dumb things without realizing it.
Anyway, thanks to everyone that has reviewed and stuff so far, and I hope you drop another!